Asian equity markets ended mostly higher on Monday as the Yen weakened after Japanese trade balance figures missed expectations, and oil prices held steady after posting their first weekly decline in five weeks on concerns over rising production and swelling stockpiles in the US.
Reports showed that Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 1,086.9 billion yen in January as exports slowed down due to a decline in US exports and the timing of Chinese New Year holidays. That missed forecasts for a shortfall of 625.9 billion yen following the 640.4 billion yen deficit in December.
Chinese shares ended higher after reports that pension funds are entering the stock market. Investor sentiment was also boosted after China’s securities regulator unveiled new rules on Friday restricting excessive and frequent fundraising by some listed companies. Continue reading Asian Equity Markets Review – 20Feb2017→
Nifty is back in buying zone with high quality reversal of the nascent down trend that was getting set for last 5 trading days. 8600 is the key level, below which downside will restart. Nifty may gain 100-150 points more before stalling.
Continued bad news from China, and weak earnings of large caps caused correction in Nifty, as Nifty cracks below 8500, and closes at 8462. On the international front, The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) allowed the yuan to depreciate almost 2 percent against the US dollar to levels last seen 3 years ago, sending a shock through global Forex markets. Indian investors are worried about impact of devaluation of Chinese currency. India’s largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) reported a mixed set of results. Net Profits beat market estimates but NPAs were a bit higher than last year. SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya is confident that there will be a decline in NPAs. She pointed towards certain cyclical factors that affect SBI in the first quarter (April-June), and that NPAs have always shown up in the first quarter and going forward SBI is seeing reduction of stressed loans. SBI stock fell by 5% and closed 269. As expected, it was a high volume day for SBI. At P/E 11, the stock is attractively valued for investors who believe economic recovery is possible in 1-2 years from today.